[mini] Movie Review – [REC]

No, no no! That wasn’t a typo. That is the name of the movie. [REC] is actually a clever title for the movie because it is supposed to mean “recording”, i.e. the status message you see when you are recording video on a camcorder. Well, enough about the title; what about the movie?!

[REC] is completely in Spanish first of all, which may be a little distracting to you if you find it annoying to have to read all subtitles in order to understand what everyone is saying. Anyway, the amount of heart-stopping horror will probably make up for that. Yes, [REC] is one of those recent movies that actually caused me to jump once in a while, although I could feel it coming most of the time (with experience watching other good horror films).

[REC] is different from other horror films. For one, the entire movie is shot from a shaky cameraman’s camera, which is an effect that quite a few recent horrors/thrillers have taken advantage of (remember “Cloverfield”), although movements were not as nauseating as the bad ones. What you will find nauseating is the amount of gore!

Set in Spain, a young and very eager reporter and her cameraman are out on an night assignment to document the response of firemen to an emergency. The slow action of the night quickly accelerates when they are invited to accompany a small brigade attending to an apartment building where tenants gathered in the lobby report hearing dreadful screams and tumbling noises coming from a particular old lady’s apartment. While investigating the disturbance a fireman and police officer are attacked by a blood-thirsty old lady, which causes everyone to flee, but upon trying to get their injured friends out of the building, they discover that authorities have completely sealed off all exits to the building leaving everyone trapped inside. Apparently, this is all in an effort to control some weird “contamination” and it is only through other horrific slayings that it is discovered that what we have here are zombies!

This movie will have you at the edge of your seat! Fear is established through many elements from something as simple to darkness to being trapped in a building where you are being hunted! This is definitely not a film for kids and those who have sleepless nights dreaming about frightening scenes.

[REC] is deserving of 7/10 in my book.